The Pleasure Park


Elena Dorfman
April 2010 – July 2010
in the Video Lounge
Three-channel video with sound, running time 5:00 minutes

The most recent video work by Elena Dorfman, The Pleasure Park, is a three-channel projection with sound that combines original and found footage that not only captures the poise and resilience of the fleeting image of the animal in multidimensional space, but also places the spectator directly in the racing environment, overwhelming them with sensation and the power of the physical form and sheer force of these trained athletes.

This work is part of a larger series of photographs and video. Pleasure Park: The Jockeys (2009) is a one-channel series of video portraits, allowing the viewer to confront the riders in their most vulnerable and unprotected state. While Pleasure Park: The Horses is a series of photographs that portrays the powerful and sinewy animals off the track, in a studio setting deprived of visual cues, suspended in motion, and removed from the culture of commodity. Pleasure Park: The Horses (2009) was displayed at Proof on Main from April 2009 to April 2010.

About the Artist

Dividing her time between Los Angeles and New York, Dorfman is represented by Modernism Inc, San Francisco. The New York Times has said of her work, "... Dorfman casts her subjects in a regal, almost poetic light." Her work is often characterized by the isolation of the subject from its typical environment or context. Dorfman's has had two previous exhibitions in the Proof on Main restaurant: Still Lovers Series (2005) and Fandomania Series (2006-2007).



 

2010 Exhibitions

Death of Childhood
21c Museum Celebrates El Día de los Muertos with a collaboration with University of Louisville Professor Mitch Eckert's Color Photography Course
Late October - Early December
in Gallery 4
exhibition details
Back to the Futurama
Jeremy Dean
Late September - October 21, 2010
in Gallery 4
exhibition details

 

 
Simen Johan: Until the Kingdom Comes
July 2 - October 4, 2010
in the Street Level Gallery
exhibition details
Faces of Fooshegu
Lindsay Cameron
November 2009 - Early October 2010
in Gallery 1, off the Atrium
exhibition details

 

 
Tout moun se moun
Gabriel Wrye
April - August 2010
in Gallery 3
exhibition details
Msyitc Truhts
Russel Hulsey
January - August 2010
in Gallery 4
exhibition details

 

 
Creating Identity: Portraits Today
An examination of portraiture in the 21st Century
August 2009 - July 2010
Street Level & Atrium Galleries
Street Level exhibition details
Creating Identity: Portraits Today
An examination of portraiture in the 21st Century
August 2009 - July 2010
Street Level & Atrium Galleries
Atrium exhibition details

 

 
The Pleasure Park
Elena Dorfman
April - July 2010
in the Video Lounge
exhibition details
Talking Back: An Exhibition of T-shirt Messages and The Bodies Who Wear Them
Leslie Lyons

November 2009 - March 2010
in Gallery 3, off the Atrium
exhibition details